


Little Church in the Wood

by ghostwriterly



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Fluff, Idiots in Love, M/M, Religious Content, Romance, Romantic Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-31
Updated: 2017-08-31
Packaged: 2018-12-22 02:52:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11958195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghostwriterly/pseuds/ghostwriterly
Summary: Tucked into the hillside near the Chattahoochee River, sits a tiny little church.





	Little Church in the Wood

 Bitty had been there on a hike once, on a church retreat to the Chattahoochee River. It had been a long day of kayaking and fellowship and food, but as was his youth leader’s custom, at the end of the afternoon everyone was encouraged to take thirty minutes to decompress. To contemplate nature and God and their place in the world.

Bitty had never been big on meditation, and sitting in plain view of the others just made him twitchy, so he chose to take off on one of the shorter trails. He could still contemplate God while moving, after all.

Unfortunately, Jimmy Joe Blaise and his girlfriend Trinity had also chosen that particular trail for their period of contemplation, so Bitty ducked down a break in the bushes before they spotted him. He was fairly certain Pastor Tom hadn't had that kind of reverence in mind when he sent them off on their own, but judge not and so on. 

Later, Bitty would imagine that had been a moment of divine providence. On a day when he was feeling particularly lonely, ill-suited and ill-fitting in this particular group of peers, when he was convinced he would never find what Jimmy Joe and Trinity had managed to stumble into so easily—the path in front of him had opened up and given him a sign.

Or at least, that’s how Bitty liked to remember it.

The late afternoon sun had shone on a break in the dark thicket of trees and revealed a narrow, sparkling tributary, its water swift and clear, with a small wooden bridge connecting this wood and the one beyond. And there on the other side, nestled into the hillside at water’s edge, sat a tiny chapel.

Bitty’s breath had caught in his chest.  

It was beautiful, and quaint, with simple gothic arch windows and a fresh coat of white paint. When he reached the door, he had found a handmade wooden bench with an inscription, _For Betsy, with all my love._ Bitty had sat there, on the bench, and listened to the brook flow over the smooth grey rocks lining its bed, feeling more at peace than he had in weeks.

The door to the chapel had been unlocked when he turned the carved brass knob, and inside it had smelled of _church;_ old hymnals, lemon-polished wood, years of prayer and devotion imbuing the plain plaster walls. He had sat on the front most pew and stared up at the cross behind the pulpit, and for once felt that he understood what Pastor Tom had meant. He felt accepted and loved and, incongruously, confident, that one day he, too, would have the opportunity to steal away with a lover, to share the most intimate parts of his heart.

Bitty had grown, and moved away, but he had never forgotten the little chapel, nor the feeling that he was in fact _okay,_ accepted and worthy, just as he was.

Now, the leaves crunched under his feet with precisely the same sounds, and the sun breaking across the path ahead foreshadowed what he already knew lay beyond.  His fingers tightened around the strong hand holding his.

Jack’s soft gasp when he spotted the chapel hurtled Bitty nearly a decade backward, to the moment he had experienced the same, and his breath caught in his chest again, although this time laced with an abundance of love and gratitude.

They didn’t speak as they approached, or as they entered the little building--still unlocked, still as welcoming and as peaceful.

They stood at the front of the chapel, fingers laced, until the sun dipped low, the light filtering through the leaves and dropping intricate patterns on the well-worn wooden floor.

Jack dropped a kiss to the top of his head, at length, with a whispered, _I love you._

Bitty looked up at the cross and smiled.

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by this photo on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/BAVEKTLEii-/
> 
> All the gratitude to Ngozi for the amazing Check Please universe.


End file.
